In the School of Faith: Bible Study
From a study of Charles Stanley
Date: 8/19/14
Week # 6
SUBJECT: The Grades of Faith
(IV) Failing Faith
Key Passage: Luke 22:31-32
Supporting Scriptures: Romans 10:17; Mark 9:14-29; Luke 17:5; Ephesians 3:16; I Thessalonians 3:11-12
Peter experienced this when he denied Christ three times (Luke 22:31-32). These moments are inevitable in our lives; however, God uses them to strengthen our faith and to teach others.
Like the disciples, we all have varying degrees of faith in our relationship with God, and we respond to the Father based on that amount. If we have great faith, He can trust us with bigger challenges and do amazing things through us.
- A. Our faith grows as we study the Word, listening for His guidance through the Scriptures.
- B. It is also strengthened when we face and overcome struggles. God uses tests for our good and to make us more capable servants.
Weak faith will fail you. You must trust God, even in our testing time. As we read and hear the Word of God, our faith grows. As said earlier the scriptures will guide us with peace in our hearts. But, we must remember that our faith is the tool and it must be strong. Weak faith is when we don't believe in what God's Word says.
Sometimes you feel weak spiritually. And when you do, you probably feel like you're the only one. You're not alone. Every Christian experiences times of weakness. What does weak faith feel like? Sometimes it manifests itself in:
- Wondering if God is in control.
- Questioning whether God really loves you.
- Doubting God's forgiveness.
- Lacking the motivation to engage in spiritual things.
- Worrying about the future.
- Being discontent.
- Feeling discouragement or being downright blah.
Good News
· If you're like me, you don't like feeling spiritually weak. And you don't have to be! Weakness doesn't have to be the new normal! God has the power to strengthen you.
· You can see this fact in verses like Luke 17:5 where the apostles come to Jesus asking Him, "Increase our faith!" and Mark 9:24 where the man cries to Jesus, "I believe; help my unbelief!" You see it in Ephesians 3:16 where Paul prays that God will strengthen the church in Ephesus, and in 1 Thessalonians 3:11-12 where Paul prays that God will increase their love for one another in Thessalonica. You also see it in Luke 22:32 where Jesus prays that Peter's faith would be strong enough to withstand the devil.
· The God who created the Universe, who delivered the Israelites, and who raised His Son. Can (and wants to) strengthen your faith.
How?
· Recognize that you cannot fix your weak faith by mere determination – by thinking positive thoughts, listening to music, or reading a 'Christian' author. That isn't taught in the Bible. These things can only offer the illusion of faith.
· The Bible tells us clearly what we need to do:
Ask
· When the man with the demon-possessed son cried to Jesus, "I believe; help my unbelief," Jesus responded by strengthening the man's faith (Mark 9:14-29). Likewise, we need to ask God to strengthen our faith.
· Don't think you need to be strong before God will listen to you. Like the man in Mark 9, ask God for help. Tell Him your faith is weak, and ask Him for strength. And He will respond by strengthening your faith when you follow the next step:
Listen
· So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (Romans 10:17)
· When we hear the Word of God, God will use His power to strengthen us. The answer to weak faith is returning to the source of our faith: the Word.
· When you feel you are in a spiritual low point in your life, here are some passages that I have found to be helpful:
· Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, and call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me. (Psalm 50:15)
· If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, Who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. (James 1:5)
· But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:7-9)
· For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:15-16)
· For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)
· Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst." (John 6:35)
· Read these verses, pray over them, and then dive even further into the Word.
· Realize you can't grow spiritually if you aren't feeding yourself (1 Peter 2:2) a steady diet of the source of faith (Rom. 10:17).
Suffering a Faith Failure:
Often, God's answer to our prayers about challenging circumstances is "Trust Me."
This is because the first step in overcoming our difficulties is to focus on the Father and have faith in His direction. We express our absolute confidence that even though the solution may be far beyond us, He knows what to do. And we can be assured that the Lord will lead us in the best way possible because He loves us unconditionally. When we have faith in God, it glorifies Him. Unfortunately, when we fail to trust the Father, it dishonors Him. He shows us how to proceed—how to have victory in our circumstances—but we refuse to obey Him. It may be because we believe we know better than the Lord does about our situations. Or maybe we are simply fearful of what may happen if we submit to His commands. Either way, we allow our unbelief to rule us and miss His best for our lives.
SERMON POINTS
A Historic Faith Failure
One of the most devastating examples of unbelief occurred when the people of Israel gathered at the edge of Canaan—the Promised Land (Num. 13–14). Although God had faithfully delivered them from Egypt and led them successfully through the wilderness, they were still unwilling to trust Him. It began when God commanded the Israelites to send 12 spies into Canaan to inspect the fruit of the region. Sadly, only two returned with positive reports of the land, which flowed with milk and honey. The other 10 spies were more focused on their inability to over throw the inhabitants than they were on God's great provision for them. They said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are too strong for us" (Num. 13:31). The people of Israel experienced a faith failure. Even though God had promised to give them the land, they refused to believe Him. They considered the obstacles simply too immense to overcome. Regrettably, this faith failure resulted in 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, and an entire generation of Israelites missed the blessings of the Promised Land.
The Causes of Failing Faith
Likewise, we experience faith failures when we refuse to trust God in our own challenges, temptations, and difficulties. What causes these breakdowns in our trust?
Fear of failure:
When we consider our trials from our own ability to handle them, it is normal for us to become afraid. However, it is not up to us to solve our problems—this is God's responsibility when we're living in obedience to His commands. David understood this and wrote, "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?" (Ps. 27:1). We have nothing to dread because God is with us, and He is greater than anything we will ever face. We cannot allow fear to cheat us out of His blessings (2 Tim. 1:7).
Listening to false information:
We must always be careful about whom we ask for advice. Others may not understand what the Lord is accomplishing in our lives or what He's promised us. Therefore, they may counsel us in a way that works contrary to His will. This is why God's direction must always take precedence in our lives—only He knows what is possible and how we can reach our full potential. We must obey Him regardless of what others say.
Failing to recall the power of God in past situations:
The Lord is intimately involved inour lives—blessing us and working through ourcircumstances to reveal His goodness to us.However, it is easy to forget this when we're focusedon our problems. This is why it is always necessaryfor us to actively recount the ways the Father hasworked in our lives. It gives us confidence He will help us again.
Failing to consider God's perspective:
The Lord desires that we learn to depend upon Him. This means He must put us in situations that are far beyond our ability to control, so we'll turn to Him. First Thessalonians 5:24 tells us, "Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass." We must trust that the Father will accomplish all He's promised.
Focusing on the obstacles rather than God:
We will always be tempted to fear the challenges before us. We catalog our weaknesses and dwell on what we lack—imagining our trials to be much larger than they actually are. This shows our focus is misplaced. Instead we must pray to God, who is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. When we keep our eyes on Him, we will see the difficulties in the proper perspective—as a way for Him to show us His glory
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The Consequences of Faith Failures:
When we refuse to believe that God will do as He's promised, we often experience devastating consequences. We are in danger of:
1) Being double-minded.
2) Becoming unstable in our ways.
3) Missing the blessings of God.
4) Having our faith destroyed.
5) Misleading others about God's character.
6) Losing our influence.
7) Weakening our testimonies.
8) Making wrong decisions.
9) Forfeiting our peace.
10) Committing costly mistakes.
11) Being discouraged in prayer.
Overcoming Failing/Wavering Faith:
So how do we overcome our unbelief and steady our faith? How do we conquer our doubts when they arise?
First, we must stop and ask ourselves the following questions:
1. Where are these doubts coming from?
2. Has God been faithful to me in the past?
3. Didn't the Lord promise to meet my needs?
4. Don't I have the help of the Holy Spirit?
5. Isn't the Father with me at all times?
6. Is anything too hard for God?
7. Is my focus on the Lord as it should be?
8. Could my unbelief in this situation cost me a lifetime of regret?
Second, we must meditate upon the Word of God
The Lord speaks to us in many ways, but one of the primary avenues is through His Word. Therefore, we should study Scripture each day, deliberately considering how He may be instructing us through each passage and applying His principles to our lives. The Father knows you are seeking His direction and assurance, so trust Him to speak to your heart, answer your questions, clarify your path, and comfort your soul.
Third, we must recall times when God faithfully answered our prayers.
This is one of the reasonsit is always a good idea to write what the Fatheris showing you in the margin of your Bible—itbecomes a biography of how He has worked in yourlife. Then you can recall His absolute faithfulnessand trust Him to lead you when troubles arise.
Fourth, courageously choose to obey God and leave all the consequences to Him.
There willcertainly be times when it takes a great deal offaith to obey God. But when you are walking in anintimate relationship with Him, He will give you theconfidence to take the leap. You will never regretstepping out in faith with Him.
When you live without faith in God, you are limited by your own strength and must endure difficulties without His awesome ability to help you. It is a terrible way to live and is certainly not what the Father wants for you. The Lord desires to show you His grace, love, and generosity, but your unbelief is hindering you from experiencing it. Don't continue in your wavering faith. Trust God with every detail of your life and make your relationship with Him your first priority. Be confident in His presence, power, and provision, and His peace will fill your heart.
Reflections:
1. What event/situation/person has caused your faith to waver?
2. If you overcame that doubt, how did you do it?
3. If you are still struggling, whose godly, biblical wisdom can you seek?
4. Do you believe what you read in 1 John 1:9?
5. What benefits can you envision to reading and memorizing this Scripture?
Questions:
1. What is failing faith?
2. What is the cause of failing faith?
3. How to overcome failing faith?
4. What are some of the questions we must asked ourselves concerning failing faith?
5. When you trust God what are you doing?
6. When we refuse to believe that God will do as He's promised, we often experience devastating consequences. What are you in danger of? Please list them.
7. What can we be assured of in the Lord when we are suffering faith failure?
8. Name a historic faith failure from the Old Testament.
Prayer:
Father God, we acknowledge that our faith is weak at time, and that You are displeased in no faith in Your children; Father, when our faith fail us, we know we need to read more of Your Word, because faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Help us Lord to have a burning desire to read, study, and meditate on Your Word, so our faith can grow stronger in us. As we study this subject please help us to walk by our faith and not by our sight, we live by our faith in You always. Help us to keep our faith from failing by reading, planting the right seed in our minds and hearts, and by keep our focus on You. We trust You with all our heart, and we refuse to lean to our own understanding, in all our ways we will acknowledge You, so You can make our path straight. This we pray in Jesus' name, amen.
Quiz:
Complainers in the Bible: WEEK #6
Israelites (Numbers 11:5) a. Childlessness
Jonah (Jonah 4:7) b. David's successes
High priest (Acts 25:7) c. Land
Spies (Numbers 14:36) d. Jews and golden image
Laborers (Matthew 20:10-11) e. Garlic
Scribes (Mark 14:4-5) f. Gourd
Grecians (Acts 6:1) g. Ointment
Chaldeans (Daniel 3:8-12) h. Pennies
Cain (Genesis 4:5) i. Neglect of widows
Rachel (Genesis 30:1-2) j. Offering
Saul (I Samuel 18:8) k. Paul
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